ABSTRACT Research on ancient and present-day foodways in northern highland Ethiopia, focused on grinding stones (querns, handstones) and non-mechanized crop processing, has demonstrated the continuity of food processing systems since at least 1600 BCE to the present. This long-term research has employed archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and traditional knowledge approaches. Traditional knowledge is often understood to be an accumulation of knowledge and “know how” acquired and handed down through generations of ancestors. Ethnoarchaeology involves ethnographic studies to build analogies, models, and ways of understanding that can be applied to the archaeological record for interpretive purposes. Increasingly, archaeology and ethnoarchaeology integrate traditional knowledge research by working with community members. This article presents results of two projects separated by 13 years that together demonstrate the effectiveness of combining these approaches for understanding the archaeological past in northern highland Ethiopia. Importantly, incorporating traditional knowledge into research methodologies also ensures that Indigenous people have a voice in explaining their past.